Queer eyes on Vermont (and more)

Please excuse the lame pun.

Unless you live under a rock, you have probably heard that on the 23rd, the Vermont State Senate passed S. 115, a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Vermont. Of 30 members, 26 voted yea. That is 86.6% yea to 13.3% nay. Since the party make-up is 23 Democrats to 7 Republicans, at least three Republicans voted yea.

The bill is now in the House, and it's expected to pass there too. With 150 members, the party make-up is 96 Democrats and 5 Progressives (101 together), 47 Republicans, and 2 independents.

But there's some potential trouble. On the 25th, Jim Douglas, Vermont's Republican governor, announced he would veto the bill if it reaches his desk. This means that, if same-sex marriage is to be legal in Vermont, both chambers of the Vermont General Assembly must override the veto with a two-thirds vote. The Senate far surpasses that requirement, but it remains to be seen how the House will vote. The pressure is on that chamber to muster 100 votes in favor of the bill.

California's legislature passed a bill in 2005, and another in 2007, to legalize same-sex marriage, but the Governator vetoed both. If Vermont's legislature can override Governor Douglas's veto, it will become the first US state to legalize same-sex marriage through the legislative process. It will also join Massachusetts and Connecticut as one of the few states where same-sex couples are treated just like opposite-sex couples.

Meanwhile, the story also develops elsewhere in New England, but the story overall isn't very happy. On the 26th, the New Hampshire House passed a similar bill, HB 436. It initially failed 182–183, but a motion to reconsider — that is, disregard the vote and start over — was approved, and the bill passed 186–179 upon a second vote. Even if the Senate passes it, it looks like the New Hampshire General Court cannot muster enough votes to override a possible veto from Democratic Governor John Lynch, who opposes same-sex marriage. In February, the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on S. 147 (PDF), a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Rhode Island. And in Maine, more than 60 legislators from both parties and both chambers, about a third of the entire legislative body, scrambled to be cosponsors of a similar bill, LD 1020. In fact, the rule in the Maine legislative process that restricts the number of cosponsors a bill can have was suspended to accommodate all the cosponsors. That doesn't happen often!

New England will be very interesting to watch in the coming weeks and months. Here's hoping for the best.

— Athelwulf

Update, March 31, 10:37 PM

The Vermont House Judiciary Committee voted 8–2 in favor of the same-sex marriage bill, and the bill is scheduled for debate on the House floor Thursday and Friday. The vote would have been 9–2 if a particular Republican had not been absent. Yes, you read that right. Awesome stuff.

Update, April 2, 4:42 PM

The Vermont House is debating the bill as I write. The live stream is here, courtesy of Burlington Free Press. I also have confirmation that one Republican, Patti Komline of Dorset, did not attend the Judiciary's hearing on the bill, but would have supported the motion to approve. The vote would have been 9–2, not 8–2.

Update, April 6, 3:30 PM

The Vermont House finally passed the bill on Friday 94–52. The Senate concurred with its amendments today, and the governor "promptly vetoed" the bill, as Vermont Freedom to Marry reports. The override votes will be held in the Senate, then the House, tomorrow morning. Hopefully enough nay votes in the House can be flipped. Two yeasayers from Thursday's vote to have a third reading were absent on Friday's final vote, but one that was absent on Thursday voted yea on Friday. The subtotal is 96–52. The Burlington Free Press reports that two Democrats who voted nay on the bill plan to vote in favor of the override. The reason one gave was that she "believes Gov. Jim Douglas interfered with the legislative process by declaring last week that he would veto the bill before it went through the Legislature". This makes 98–50. House Speaker Shap Smith, who abstained from Friday's vote due to institutional custom, will vote in favor of the veto. This brings it to the tentatively predicted vote of 99–50. It's so close!

Meanwhile, on Friday, a very surprising development in the Midwest: The Iowa Supreme Court struck down the state's statutory ban on same-sex marriage. The ruling was unanimous. The author of the court's opinion is one of two justices appointed by Iowa's last Republican governor. Yes, really.